What is it that you truly want? Do you truly know what your number one goal is? If you don’t, you’re not alone, but it’s an important piece of the puzzle. Take some time to decide what you are working towards and why. Then follow these guidelines to own your productivity and get one step closer to that number one goal!

I am often at REIA meetings and national conferences where we discuss the “hectic day” of the real estate world. Whether you are a property manager, investor, or agent you can relate to the feeling that there are not always enough hours in a day. What I have found throughout my experiences is that time is created equal. Time management skills are not. The most successful people you know, across all fields, have developed their own tips and tricks to win their day. Over the years I’ve learned from a lot of people and here are what I’ve found to be some of the most important productivity tips to streamline your day.

Tasks are calendar items. Schedule them or delegate them.

Too often people are writing to do lists only to lose them and forget what was on them. Half of the things that are on the list are in the calendar anyway but now you’ve created an extra stress on yourself trying to figure out which list is updated, and which isn’t. The bottom line here, don’t maintain multiple lists all they do is take time away from your day. Anything that can be written on a list can be put into your calendar. This includes workouts, time with your family, and reading a book. Google calendar, like many, is actually set up to differentiate between a calendar item and a to do item. Having it all in one place creates a peace of mind for you and allows you to see everything on your agenda in one place for the day, month year.

Use a stand-up desk….

Bonus points if you’re using a stand-up desk with a treadmill to walk as you work/read emails. You can start your day off with a killer morning routine, healthy breakfast, and even a great workout but if the second you get into your office you sit down for the next 8-12 hours you essentially are erasing the benefits of all that work you put in. Dramatic? Maybe not…studies have found that people who sit a lot every day have an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and early death. Additionally, sitting all the time burns very few calories, and many studies have linked it to weight gain and obesity. (Source)

The bottom line is you want to do everything to increase your odds of having a productive day. So don’t get stuck sitting. Stand and maintain that power position and you will be surprised how much better you feel after a few days.

Time limits on meetings and tasks

My project management background always comes back to this. Work expands to fill the time we allot it. When I was working with the software development team in NYC, we found the daily standup scrum meeting so beneficial that word spread, and it was adapted by operations and clients services. You would be very surprised that you can accomplish the same thing in a 15-minute or 30 minute meeting as you can one hour. Streamlined meetings reduce side conversations and keep everyone sharp and on topic. Setting yourself and your team a timeline requires everyone to be on the focused from start to finish. This premise should be used when it comes to tasks as well. Baseline a time per task and require that each person complete the task/project in that time, once trained of course. Most people don’t intentionally slack off. Our days are filled with distractions, if you and your team want to perform at your highest, start with an estimated duration expectation in every operation you perform.

Setup a morning routine

Everyone’s morning routine will be slightly different. The key is to have one. I recommend including these 6 power areas: Visualization, exercise, affirmation, writing, reading, and reflection. Keep it organized and tight. Try to do them in the same order every day to build a consistency with it. You may be thinking, that looks like a lot of stuff to get done. It’s really not. It requires you to get up at the very minimum 15 mins earlier each day. You can play around with the numbers and make it yours. If you especially like reading read for a few extra minutes and write for a little less. The most important part is doing it. Consistently.

Prioritize the priorities

The best way to reach your goals, no matter how big, is to do a little bit each day. Breaking down the goal is how you will reach it. When it comes to business set a priority task for the day, for your week, and create a timeline on how you are going to use this to reach your monthly project goals. Dividing your work up this way ensure that you and your team know exactly what needs to be focused on when. Going hand in hand with having your priorities straight is being able to stay on track. Consider implementing an inbox tool allowing you to delay the send time of an email to fit your schedule. Think that time you sent out a mass email only to be completely useless the rest of the day because you were stuck focusing on the replies. A scheduling tool lets you write the email, schedule conveniently and forget about it, knowing you can address that task at a later time.

No matter what your business is using productivity tips to streamline your day is the key to achieving great success and reaching your number one goal. Try out the ideas above and make them your own by tweaking what you need to. As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to us so we can help you on your journey to financial freedom!